Testashadow shines to lift gloom

When Testashadow was overweight and underwhelming at Rosehill a fortnight ago, Gary Portelli feared one of his favourites was nearing the end of his career.

So the Warwick Farm-based trainer was delighted to be proved wrong as Jason Collett saluted on the six-year-old gelding after his gutsy win in the Group Three Festival Stakes (1500m) feature at Rosehill.

Testashadow had not won since claiming the Magic Millions Cup on the Gold Coast in January and his second-last over the same trip when resuming left Portelli on edge.

"The way he went, I thought, you know, they don't come back sometimes," he said.

Portell was worried because he had employed the same lead-in to this campaign for a $50,000 purchase that pushed his earnings past $1.3 million on Saturday.

"I basically mimicked every preparation I'd done with him, same track work, same trials and I thought I had him where he needed to be.

"It was unbelievable. He went terrible first up and there were no excuses other than he was probably a little bit fat in the bird cage."